Safe Haven
by Spryte Magnus
Summary: He didn't mean to hurt anyone. He died to fix it. Unfortunately, Alpha had become human. 600 years later Topher Brink wakes up from death only to discover Rossum is alive and well under the title 'Alliance' and they've made a doll-who looks like Bennet.
1. Chapter 1

"Just tech."

No, it was more then that, it was a person. But he was sad, broken.

"Why would the Little Man send us here on his last wishes?"

They'd found a wave from wash on the hard drive. River had found it-labeled _Omega_. It had been there for a long time. Another wave had been with it-Alpha-but it was encrypted. They'd followed his directions to Earth that Was.

"What I wanna know is how he knew the way to Earth That Was."

"Its a hard drive, not just tech. I mean Tech can refer to the Ship's innards. This is an antique."

She held the piece of hardware quietly as she placed a hand on the ice.  
"Like a fairy tale. He's sleeping."

"Captain, I think there's a body in there!  
"A cryogenic tube. It's been here...maybe as long as the drive."

It made sense. The body in the tube was empty-just parts, no soul, no mind. The drive had both of those and no parts.

"I thought cryogenic meant...well a tube. This is more like a chair...why is this room frosted over?"  
"Why is it six hundred feet underground?"

"Just ice."

The angel just needed to finish his halo. She held the last fragment. She slid it in. The halo lit up.

"What in the gorram hell did Little Crazy do?"

"It's not beeping-that's good, right?"  
"Just in case, River, come back here."  
"Zoe will you get her?"  
"My man sent us here."

His wing lit up and she saw it was made of glass. She slid her hand across and mandarin symbols appeared. Then her picture appeared. But...it wasn't her. Could it be? She placed her finger on it. The angel spoke.  
"Was I sleeping?"

He was one now. River ran a hand down his cheek.  
"Good Morning."


	2. Chapter 2

Why was he talking like a doll? Why were there strangers around the chair? And he was in the chair...

"What went wrong? Who am I in?" He exclaimed as he sat up. There was a caress on his cheek and a familiar voice answered his question.

"You are Topher Brink. The...doll you're in was empty, sleeping in the ice."

He turned slowly and his eyes widened.  
"Bennet...?" It was impossible. The girl next to him with her hand on his cheek couldn't be Bennet. Saunders had murdered her in front of him. This had to be hell.  
"Oh god, why did Adelle put me in the attic?"

Topher curled up and began to sob. The larger one who resembled a bear grunted.  
"Little Man sent us to Earth That Was so Lil' Crazy could find a Mr. Crazy?"  
"Jayne!" The girl with short brown hair in overalls spoke, "He's just confused!"  
"Kaylee," The man in the brown duster spoke, "I think the doctor might have noticed this as his sister is curling up around Mr. Sleeping Doll, he's confused and naked."

Topher stared down to discover his birthday suit-_his_. Right down to his birth marks and scars.  
"But I blew up when I saved the world..."

The girl next to him with her curly hair, the only real difference from Bennet she had besides the use of both arms. She was bare foot and in a red sun dress, and graceful enough for ballet. Silently she had slid next to him, the only one his nudity didn't seem to bother. Her face seemed gentle as she held his cheek, her eyes kind.  
"Aren't I dead? Are you and angel?"  
"He's a Ruttin nutter!" Jayne exclaimed as the angel wrapped her arms around him.  
"Are you?"


	3. Chapter 3

_What in the Sam Hill were you thinking Wash?  
_  
Malcolm Reynolds had been more heroic or noble in the last year then he had been in half-a-dozen. His pilot had been killed, as well as a dear friend (though he'd never admit it). As a result they'd been able to blow open a mass cover up by the alliance. River had been getting closer to sane as the replacement pilot until she found the wave in Wash's files /Omega/. It meant the end. So Mal had assumed it was a last Will and called in Zoe to watch it. There had been directions to Earth that was. Apparently once everyone left it, a couple Terraform machines were left on. The air and water was clean, though the land was covered in human ruins. Well, it was better then remains, like it had been on Miranda. They'd followed the beacon and found the frozen over mansion, like something out of his commander's stories.  
"What do you think Sir?"

Mal turned from the one lap pool that was thawing out. His second in command, and widow of the late pilot, Zoe stood there.  
"I think it would be weird if Wash sent us somewhere dangerous in his last will. Though I can't figure out why we're here."  
"I think it would be in character for the little man to set up Lil crazy with another crazy." Jayne came from the side now. "Lil crazy sang some lullaby I never heard and he fell asleep clinging to her. Doc ain't happy about it. Kaylee's checking out the tech. Inara said she found cots or some such."  
"Wash wouldn't have sent us all this way for nothing but thawing out the ice man." Mal shot back.  
"If I may sir, I think he might have sent us here for safety."  
"Are you out of your gorram mind?"

Mal held his arm up.  
"Jayne. You said this place had a garden and storage for food that hadn't spoiled somehow. Doc was thrilled to find a fully stocked medical office. Had to stop Kaylee from stripping right in front of us when she found the showers..." He looked around. "Its possible Zoe's onto something. This place has been lost for centuries. The Alliance won't look for us here."  
"It's a paradise." Zoe stated.  
"Well, how'd little man know it was out here?"

Jayne had asked the one thing Mal didn't know, and it scared him that Wash had this big a secret and been able to take it to the grave.


	4. Chapter 4

Topher awoke and realized he was on morphine. That was the only way Bennet could be sitting there in a denim skirt and oversized sweater, barefoot. What was more, both her arms were in the air holding toy dinosaurs.  
"Thats her on a good day."

Topher turned to where a man he didn't know was pulling a needle out of his arm.  
"She might be a hallucination. You aren't."  
"That's River. She's my sister. I'm Simon. The captain suggested I sedate you and ask some questions."  
"Ask away." Topher glanced back at River. "She looks just like Bennet."  
"First question. Who are you, are you dangerous?"  
"Topher Brink. Cloned or something, then had my mind put back in. Unless I'm imprinted, I'm less dangerous then River." He stated and Simon laughed.  
"Bad subject, but I get your point. What does imprint mean?"  
"Its like when a program is uploaded into a computer, but an imprint is a program and a doll's mind is the computer."  
"What does 'doll' mean?"  
"A human who offerred up their mind. The original mind gets backed up to be uploaded later. Then it gets wiped. The they get rewired. Sometimes they get trigger words."  
"What do the words do?"  
"Varies. It could make them a ninja or make them self destruct. There's also a code to turn it off." Topher glanced back at Simon and realized he was looking at his sister with concern.  
"What is this place?"  
"The Los Angelos Dollhouse. We keep dolls safe here. It's pretty much self sustaining. Solar pannels above here, in every window of the Rossum office building above. They go into generators, and the gardens grow hyperponicly. The freezer might have held, I'm not sure. Water is constantly recycled in and out of the treatment system."  
"Is it safe?"  
"600 feet under ground. I'd think so, but it all depends who gets in."  
"Why did you think you were dead?"  
"I was pretty sure I blew up. What's the date?" Topher wondered how long he'd been dead.  
"I suppose I could tell you. 2620."  
"Woah."  
"When did you die?"  
"Blew up in 2019."  
"Who was Bennet?"  
"The only person smarter then me. The only girl..." It came rushing back. Saunders shooting Bennet in the head...and River dropped the toys before screaming and grasping at  
her own head.  
"No! These memories aren't mine! That's not how I die!"


	5. Chapter 5

Why did the angel have a vision of a bullet to her brain pan?River didn't understand, but she screamed. His shadowed face jerked as she did. They'd found sweats for him.  
"Whats wrong? What did you do?" Her brother was shouting at the wingless angel. He'd lost them. River grabbed her head as she screamed. There was a prick in her arm as Simon injected the familiar needle that led to sleep. The angel approached her, a gentle hand on hers. River felt sleep approaching as she whispered: "Are you here to save me?"


	6. Chapter 6

River's scream pierced the air and Zoe was the first one heading down. She scared Jayne, how she'd been since Miranda. She'd been a scary woman before. In the time since Wash died, the warrior woman had gotten colder. River was the only one who really talked to her while she was in the cabin.

Of course, River screaming was a bad sign. When they arrived Simon had sedated his sister and punched Topher.  
"Doc, did he like, touch lil crazy?" Jayne mumbled.  
"What?" Topher held his jaw, "No!"  
"He was from the beginning of the people who made River the way she is," Simon mumbled as he flexed his fist, "They erased people's minds, reprogrammed them, and set trigger words to turn them into killers."  
"What does that have to do with your sister?" Topher exclaimed. "And why did she start screaming?"  
"Because your people," Zoe spoke, "Removed her frontal lobe."


	7. Chapter 7

The room was eerily quiet when Kaylee entered.  
"There's something you should see. I was in the office, next to where we found _him_..." She pointed at Topher, "I was trying to figure out how everything worked whe I found this." She held out the photo frame. Bennet's smiling face showed from behind the glass and Topher was ready to cry. Simon looked from it to his sister. Mal looked like a dear in head lights. Zoe didn't change her expression since Wash died. Jayne tilted his head.  
"That's down right unsettling."  
"Her name was Bennet." Topher took it slowly, "She was like me, a programmer of Dolls, but so much smarter. I was there whe Dr Saunders, a doll who went bad, shot her. I'd thought of it just before River began to scream...she read it off my mind I guess..."

As the crew fussed and cussed, Topher sat beside River. He had crushed the doll software, wiped it all. Yet if they were right, this girl was a dangersous girl whose brain had been adjusted. She was a psychic warrior woman.

Was it wrong he found that amazingly sexy?


	8. Chapter 8

Topher earned his keep-something he found odd because he had been there first-by showing Kaylee how to run everything. He'd begun to bring up his having settler's rights, but one scary look from Zoe shut him right up

He had begun to associate them as people.

Mal was the captain often in a brown coat. He had sexual tension with Inara.

Zoe was second in command, scary, and recently widowed.

Jayne was third seat and had a serious relationship with his gun, Vera. Topher didn't like thinking about it.

Inara was a 'companion'. This meant she was a hooker of sorts who could pick her clients. She also had health insurance. Again, tension between her and the captain.

Kaylee was the mechanic. She was intimate with Simon.

Simon was the ship's doctor. And River's older brother.

River was the psychic warrior woman pilot. Who looked like Bennet. And had something done to her brain.

_But Rossum is gone._ Topher thought as he collapsed on his office sofa. With the exception of the people living in it, the Dollhouse had been unchanged through the ages.  
"The _Alliance_ did it."

Topher lifted his head to see River jumping on the trampoline.  
"Pardon?"  
"What happened to my brain was a branch of the Alliance. Two by two, hands of blue. Not Rossum."  
"I forgot you could read my mind."

River frowned as she sat on the desk.  
"Because you keep thinking I'm Bennet. I'm not."

River hadn't avoided him since she'd seen Bennet die in his memory. On the contrary, she'd stuck close to him. He'd taught her to play Battle Ship. She'd taught him humility as a result. Whac a Mole went over better, but she'd beaten his high score. Apparently she thought his office was interesting.

"Let's dance!" River pleaded. Topher sat up and held his head.  
"You may not know this...but I don't know how."  
"Whats that then?"

Topher followed her pointed finger to his Dance Dance Revolution set.  
"That, if it still works, does not count as dancing!"  
"It looks fun!" River tilted her head and pouted. "Can we please?"

By some miracle the Playstation 2 was still working. Topher had started on easy songs, but before long River was playing Love Shine on expert, earning a perfect score.  
"You're a fast learner." Topher laughed as he took a break and she used both mats.  
"Its just a pattern. Once I've seen it once..."

River didn't finish her sentence. She fell to the ground wretching.  
"River!" Topher shouted as he ran over. River coughed and shook her head.  
"Its not mine." And she passed out. Topher swore as he scooped her up.  
"You're brother is going to punch me again."


	9. Chapter 9

_Who the hell makes a one lap pool?_

Jayne had crashed into one of the walls . He approached Simon's medical room and paused. He and the new crazy were arguing about something. The doc looked pissed. Brink was bewildered with another shiner.  
"Beyond carrying her, I haven't touched your sister!"  
"She's showing symptoms of pregnancy! She's not alone with many men! You can't just pretend she's Bennet because of her good nature!"  
"She hates it if I even think of Bennet whe I look at her! Listen Doc, I haven't tainted your sister! It occurs to me she's a psychic. A powerful psychic. What if someone else here is pregnant?"  
"Inara hasn't had a client in weeks and Kaylee and I use protection!"  
"Thats a mite more then I wanted to know." Jayne commented as he entered. "I need an Ice Pack and I think Zoe has food posioning. Heard her puking in the bathroom."

Jayne went into the freezer and blinked when he realized they were staring.  
"Whut?"


	10. Chapter 10

Malcolm had journeyed up. He'd wanted to see the room Brink claimed he blew up in. And it looked blowed up. He was looking over a billboard of photos when the elevator dinged.  
"Captain?" Zoe approached.  
"This about the pregnancy you've been trying to hide?"  
"How did you-"  
"You were able to hide the signals." Mal stood up, "Our resident psychic showed the signs."  
"So that's why she was keeping an eye on me."  
"Why you telling me now?"  
"Brink and the Doc forgot me in the original count of possible pregnant women."  
"I know you better. Going on second Trimester If I'm not wrong."  
"You're not."  
"Talk to Simon about prenatal treatment. I'll be right dow ."  
"Something wrong captain?"  
"No, nothing."

He waited for he to leave before facing the photos. One was a man who looked amazingly like Wash. The other was a brown haired woman in a blue shirt who couldn't be who he thought.  
"...Mom?"


	11. Chapter 11

"Are you sure Mal?"  
"As sure as Jayne is straight!"  
He'd taken the photos down with him when he went to bother Inara. She was looking at the pictures now.  
"I admit he has a strong resemblance to Wash..."  
"Strong Resemblance my ass!" Mal exclaimed. "It was directions in Wash's last wishes that brought us here! Maybe I could believe it was his ancestor. But the girl in the blue sweater!"  
"Caroline?" Inara read off the back.  
"But that's not what Mom called herself..." Mal muttered.  
"Then clearly not your mother." Inara sighed. "There's only one person who can answer your questions, you know."  
"Who? Wash? He's dead."  
"No." Inara rolled her eyes. "Brink."

It was an odd moment. Mal knew it was true, but he didn't like the guy.  
"Do I have to?"


	12. Chapter 12

(Author's note: So sorry about the delay! College and lack of muses)

* * *

Topher exhaled as River slept on the couch. It wasn't hard to imagine her as a seperate person and not Bennet. Once it was, but as time passed she was just River. As the days passed he realized if he took pictures of her brain he might be able to find a way to fix her.

One of those ways was to imprint her as her without her problems. The trouble here was most of her problems were physical. Additionally, if she wasn't set up to take imprints...  
"Brink, a minute?"

Topher looked up as Mal entered. He then climbed up the railing.  
"What's the problem, Captain?"  
"The pictures on the top floor. 'To Remember'."  
"Dolls, the lot of them. What about it?"  
"A couple of them look familiar."  
"I thought it had been hundreds of years." Topher sat at his desk.  
"That's why I'm confused." Mal sighed as he took the photo out of his pocket. "This says Caroline. Add a few years or so and she looks like my mother."

Topher paused and looked at him.  
"Who's your dad?"  
"Never met him. Mom didn't like talking about him. When I got older I asked if it was because he didn't care. Mom told me he was noble and if he could have been there he would."  
"Huh. You know, you do remind a bit of Ballard."  
"Who?"

Topher shook his head.  
"Agent Paul Ballard was put on a case to keep him quiet and out of trouble. It backfired and he found a place the FBI pretended didn't exist."  
"What's this got to do with me?"  
"He was looking for a girl as the light at the end of the tunnel." Topher took the photo. "Caroline. He'd never met her, but she'd vanished into the Dollhouse. That's what made him dig."  
"Did he ever find her?"  
"I see I have your attention." Topher exhaled. "Not exactly. By the time he found her she'd become Echo."

Mal fell silent as Brink stared at him.  
"How can that be your mother?"  
"Was my mother just another doll...?"  
"Just? Ha!" Topher shook his head. "She began to /retain/ after I wiped her. When we eventually put Caroline back in she became another part of Echo. Your mother was not like the others. Echo could program _herself_ with any previous imprint. She was the one who broke the system. Well. One of them. Who else?"

Mal held up the picture of the blonde man. And Topher screamed before hiding under his desk.  
"That's Alpha!"


	13. Chapter 13

(Author's note: Also sorry about the number of short segments I'd forgotten to post!)

* * *

River's eyes shot open at the word 'Alpha'. She sat up and listened.

Mal was thinking about Wash. He was a good pilot with a quirky sense if humor. He'd never understood why Zoe married him.

Topher was thinking of a Doll with Wash's face. He was terrified. The Doll had a penchant for slicing up people. It was because of who he'd once been. While he'd tried to put it behind him and helped the remaining world, Topher had never forgotten all Alpha had done.  
"Alpha!"

River jumped to her feet and grabbed Topher's hand.  
"You can decrypt it!"  
"Decrypt what?" He exclaimed as she dragged him, leaving Mal behind.  
"Wash's message! Wash and Alpha look identical! It was Wash who left us directions to find you in the file 'Omega'. There was also a file named 'Alpha', but I couldn't get in. The file was encrypted."  
"And why do you think I can help?" Topher exclaimed as they reached the codpit.

"Because I think Wash was Alpha."


End file.
